Lovely Wednesday: Project Update (with pictures!)

My rotating mini-gallery.
I call it rotating, but that's based on the assumption that I will make more paintings in this size and want to switch them out, or will maybe decide to sell one of these and be forced to paint something else or endure a gaping hole in the gallery. I've got a few more in this size but I don't like them as well, or the orientation is wrong, or they're not finished, or they just don't go together as well. I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.
It's worth noting that the mini-gallery is separate from the gallery wall in the hall. The gallery wall in the hall is mostly work that OTHER people have done, although it currently includes two pieces by me, both of which are pictured below.

Meditation 1 - wet-on-wet acrylic on canvas - finished
This is what started my whole recent painting binge. I saw this rainbow of colors in my head and I knew I wanted to paint it, so I pulled out my canvases and paints, and poured out a rainbow of colors. I blended them all together on the canvas, and before they had time to dry I painted whatever came to mind over it in white. I love the wet-onto-wet process, because the painter is definitely not in control--the paint is. It makes the whole process really relaxing and freeing. I'm not as happy with the end result of this one as I'd imagined, but I still like it and I want to try more like it in the future.

Meditation 2 - wet-on-wet acrylic on canvas - finished
It's a shame I didn't get this one from a better angle, because I like it much better than Meditation 1.

Mountain Moon - wet-on-wet acrylic on canvas - finished

The Seaweed is Always Greener (In Somebody Else's Lake) - wet-on-wet acrylic on canvas - finished

Tree in Winter - wet-on-wet acrylic on canvas - finished
This painting and its partner (below) evolved by themselves. I knew I wanted to paint a black and white wet-onto-wet, so I coated the already-white canvas in white paint, got out my black, and started painting. I love the misty swirls that appeared in the air. I don't remember why I thought to do that. I say it's finished, but the crescent moon still bothers me because of how jaggedy it is. I will probably smooth it out, even though that will make it not totally wet-onto-wet.

Tree in Summer - wet-on-wet acrylic on canvas - finished

Squares - acrylic on canvas - finished (but unsigned?)
This canvas had a bunch of smeared paint on it because I was using it as a palette for another painting. Then I started using it as a palette for itself because I wanted to paint some colored squares (I was on a square kick from the black and white trees). I wasn't sure where this was going, but as it developed I fell in love with it. I think it's my favorite piece in my mini art gallery right now. The colors are much nicer in person, I promise.

Magic Hand - acrylic on canvas - finished
This was another one of those canvases that gets a background painted on it because I have a ton of leftover paint from something else, and then doesn't get touched again for several months. When I pulled it out, I somehow knew exactly what to do with it.

Widow Paris - 1 of 4 - finished
I made four beautiful calavera paintings but only photographed the one that's on my gallery wall in the hall. I have photographs of the others from before. Maybe I'll post those next. This one is called Widow Paris because that is what is written on Marie Laveau's gravestone, and the colors in this one remind me of New Orleans, and thus of the queen herself.

Tiger - Acrylic on Canvas - finished
At first I didn't like this one but it's been a few months and I've changed my mind. This was all wet-into-wet and all painted with one HUGE flat brush. I painted this a few months ago before my recent painting binge, and I remember sitting down with a photo of a tiger, a square canvas, some paints, and a paintbrush, thinking "I'm gonna paint this. I'm gonna paint this now, and I'm not gonna use any other brush, and I'm not gonna take a break. I'm going to do the whole thing right now." That was my challenge to myself. I had hoped it would have a little more texture, especially above the nose, but it bothers me less now than it did then.

Altered Bridal Ad - black and white acrylic paint - finished

Dr. Camelton - acrylic on canvas - unfinished
This one merits some explanation. This is a picture of an unfinished work (which is now finished but unphotographed) that is a commission for a text-based video game which is currently in development. The game is called Dinosaurs in Pakistan and you should play it on your iPhone when it comes out (and tell me all about it since I don't have an iPhone). This character is called Dr. Camelton, and he wears dual monocles. If you think the camel in the painting is crazy, you should see the written description I had to base him off of. For that, you'll have to play Dinosaurs in Pakistan.